I had a chance to sit down with producer Kenichiro Takaki at TGS and ask him a few questions about Sakura Note. This is what he had to say about it -

So, you're currently working on a game called Sakura Note. Tell us about it.

It's a game developed by Audio, Inc. They were behind Contact on the DS. It's an adventure game that takes place in Japan. It has a traditional, nostalgic feel too it, especially for those who grew up in Japan.

What is the story about?

In a city somewhere in Japan, you have a sakura tree. Usually, after the spring, sakura trees lose all of their flowers. But this particular tree, even after spring, during the summer - it's still pink with flowers on its branches. A boy in the city is suddenly approached by a strange old man who tells him that the sakura tree will die unless he helps him. From there, the story takes off with the hero trying to find a way to save the tree.

How does the game play?

You play this boy in the city - you're hanging around, trying to find some hints as to the whereabouts of some monsters that are the reason why the sakura tree is actually dying. You do this by finding hints and talking to people. Once you've gathered all the hints and you know where to go, you go there and you fight against some monsters. For the most part, the battle parts are pretty simple - you press a to hit and b for defense. What you're trying to do is make the monsters cry since their teardrops are what you need to save the sakura tree.

Is there anything else you wanted to add?

I would like to add that we have some very talented people working on this project. We have Uematsu-san (Nobuo Uematsu) for the music. For the scenario we have Nogima-san (Kazushige Nojima). Both worked on the Final Fantasy series. And we also have Minaba-san (Hideo Minaba) who was a character designer for the Final Fantasy series as well.